Lahore, Aug 31 - Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif has urged greater interaction between intellectuals of the two countries as the way forward in the stalled subcontinental dialogue process.

Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), made the observation during a meeting Monday with visiting Hurriyat leaders, including Yasin Malik, at his Raiwind estate on the outskirts of Lahore.

India should restart the dialogue process as it was in the interest of people of both the countries, Online news agency quoted Sharif as saying.

India had frozen the composite dialogue process in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that New Delhi has blamed on elements operating from Pakistan.

Ajaml Amir Kasab, the lone gunman captured alive during the Nov 26-29, 2008 mayhem and who is now being tried in a Mumbai court has admitted to being a Pakistani national and to being trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for the attacks that claimed the lives of over 170 people, including 26 foreigners.

Pakistan has arrested five LeT operatives, including its commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and communications specialist Zarrar Shah. Their in-camera trial began Saturday in a court in the garrison town of Rawalpindi adjacent to federal capital Islamabad.